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Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

andrewhy.de

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Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#161

Post by reinhardt »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #129
engblaze wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely... the spirit of reducing waste and consumerism is admirable, but this guy is being ridiculous by claiming that he only owns "15 things". Not only is he missing the point, but his hyperbole is out of control. A toiletry kit is 1 item? Right. Bike Snob NYC has a hilarious post on Hyde if you haven't seen it: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011/05/paring-down-and-pair...

Actually, the OP provides a fairly insightful definition of "item": I count my things as resellable items I would be pissed if someone took. By this definition an "item" is "one emotional connection to an object", not merely an object itself. Yes, this means that the guy carries around many more physical objects than he counts as "items". This seems emotionally healthy, though, if one can afford it. And affording it…

By this definition an "item" is "one emotional connection to an object", not merely an object itself.

This would be a pretty odd definition of an "item". Going with this definition though, I (and suspect quite a few others) don't have more than 1-2 "items", or even any at all. I can't think of a single (physical) object I have emotional connection to, as long as I am reimbursed so that I can replace it it's business as usual.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#162

Post by jff »

its_so_on wrote: post #105
michael_dorfman wrote: post #12

Most Buddhist monks could easily get under the "15 things" limit-- the standard list of possessions is: three robes, an alms bowl, a cloth belt, a needle and thread, a razor for shaving the head, and a water filter.

that's pretty good. source? with a wish-list like that what do they need alms for? I couldn't live without a toothbrush though.

The money they are given probably helps buy food, since not even the magical Buddhist monks can survive without at least a little rice.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#163

Post by mc32 »

jessedhillon wrote: post #144
mc32 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>OP's 'minimalism' is sustained by a reliance upon huge amounts of infrastructure, most of it environmentally unsustainable. That's true. On the other hand it's there. All that infrastructure wasn't installed for his use exclusively. So, yes, I agree he's just moving the ownership from personal to distributed corporate/community. It's somewhat comparable to playing lose with accounting rules and moving money into off…

Yes, OP is not responsible for the existence of the machine. But no, there is no real meaning to "minimalism" if you do not stop pulling on the machine's demand lever. Parent comment is questioning whether OP has actually done that, or if he's not simply made his demand less visible (consumer vanity).

This is off-topic, but, if as a society the goal were to put less stress on resources there are two alternatives: either individually consume less or, have fewer consumers. Neither alternative seems compatible with the prevalent economic model --see Japan's stagnation in a nation which is neither growing its population and where the current population has decreased its 'consumerism'. Still, ZPG or near ZPG seems to be in disfavor as a way to ease pressure on resources.

With regard to the OP. it would seem, at least marginally, relying on the machine rather than on personal ownership is more resource efficient.

And, yes, as others pointed out, minimalism, is a pretty malleable term.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#164

Post by Radix »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #122
jdietrich wrote: post #80

This isn't minimalism in any sense of the word, it's just a consumerist vanity. OP's 'minimalism' is sustained by a reliance upon huge amounts of infrastructure, most of it environmentally unsustainable. He doesn't carry stuff with him, but uses money to access what he needs. It's like claiming to be a minimalist because you own a second house where you keep all your stuff. OP outsources the burden of sustaining his…

Minimalism , like most words describing styles, is a very flexible word. If I write a composition in which a single person plays a pair of water glasses with one drumstick, that's "minimalism". And if I employ a very expensive sound studio to record a famous pop song consisting of the simplest possible drum track, a sparse guitar riff, a one-note vocal part with occasional distortion, and a toy Casio organ, that's al…

I think you're right about words describing styles being flexible but wrong given the amount of flexibility you expect and the examples you've given. Minimalism, in every example I can think of, has a context. What you've described is a minimalist percussion exhibition and a minimalist recording. If you asked some people to describe those two things I expect you would get some similar thoughts. The focus is on the recording and not the location of the recording. The studio would not be a focus on whether the recording was or was not minimalist.

But there are assumptions, context, about lifestyle minimalism that the minimalism supports some goal to minimize consumption with an eye toward "the things we own end up owning us" and to keep their footprint small. The gp notes that the subject of the article has not actually done that, he's just pushed consumption off onto other people and businesses. An example you asked for of someone who lives minimalistically is a myth I heard as a kid about people who could fit everything into their VW Bug and be on their way.

I guess I don't think you're wrong so much as right but the gp's assumptions are common and more accurate to how minimalism is usually thought about.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#165

Post by wollw »

jff wrote: post #162
its_so_on wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's pretty good. source? with a wish-list like that what do they need alms for? I couldn't live without a toothbrush though.

The money they are given probably helps buy food, since not even the magical Buddhist monks can survive without at least a little rice.

Actually, according to the Buddhist monastic code they aren't allowed to have money. I know a very large number (probably the majority) of monks these days do accept money but I know of and have lived with those that don't. In the communities that respect the Vinaya[1] there are 227 rules that fully ordained monks are supposed to follow. Novices have ten rules[2] and one of them is not to handle money.

[1]http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/bmc1/b...

[2]http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sila/dasasila.html

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#166

Post by wollw »

its_so_on wrote: post #105
michael_dorfman wrote: post #12

Most Buddhist monks could easily get under the "15 things" limit-- the standard list of possessions is: three robes, an alms bowl, a cloth belt, a needle and thread, a razor for shaving the head, and a water filter.

that's pretty good. source? with a wish-list like that what do they need alms for? I couldn't live without a toothbrush though.

The list mentioned is repeated here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyesako/layguid...

I've heard this list other places too but don't have a source. The four requisites mentioned on that page are what I typically think of.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#167

Post by larrys »

Well first he has one more thing of value in addition to those mentioned.

He owns andrewhy.de domain name which has links and traffic.

And he can sell that because the traffic and links have value. According the the dubious compete.com numbers traffic spiked to about 25k visitors in Sept. of 2011. (It's less now.) According to alexa.com he has 351 sites linking in.

Oh one more thing.

What he is doing is known as a publicity stunt. I've done them and I know one when I see it.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#168

Post by teyc »

andrewhyde wrote: post #120
jdietrich wrote: post #80

This isn't minimalism in any sense of the word, it's just a consumerist vanity. OP's 'minimalism' is sustained by a reliance upon huge amounts of infrastructure, most of it environmentally unsustainable. He doesn't carry stuff with him, but uses money to access what he needs. It's like claiming to be a minimalist because you own a second house where you keep all your stuff. OP outsources the burden of sustaining his…

OP here. I don't see your point but feel all your anger. Not sure if I'm just catching it from another project, but it is odd to me that you default from a guy owning a few shirts to causing major economic injustices. I don't own much physically. I spend my days volunteering and traveling living a pretty simple life. I write posts and sometimes people like and share them. This post was written in May of last year and…

I was just telling my son that a Buddhist monk is only allowed to own 4 kinds of items, not necessarily 4 items. Nowadays when people think they need to "own" things to be happy, hopefully it serves as a call to others that it is not only possible, but liberating.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#169

Post by run4yourlives »

waitwhat wrote: post #34

There is also the hipster version of this: http://theburninghouse.com/ "If your house was burning, what would you take with you? It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable and sentimental."

This website makes me sad for our species. Somebody thinks "Rolling Stone" is essential.

Re: Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things

#170

Post by Androsynth »

jdietrich wrote: post #80

This isn't minimalism in any sense of the word, it's just a consumerist vanity. OP's 'minimalism' is sustained by a reliance upon huge amounts of infrastructure, most of it environmentally unsustainable. He doesn't carry stuff with him, but uses money to access what he needs. It's like claiming to be a minimalist because you own a second house where you keep all your stuff. OP outsources the burden of sustaining his…

He's not a minimalist, he's a vagabond.
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